Kingston Police have named Staff Sgt. Chris Scott as their new deputy chief of police, meaning both new senior leaders have been promoted from within.

“It’s exciting. I’m looking forward to the opportunity,” Scott said in his first interview since being named to the position on Monday afternoon. “I will have completed 30 years [as an officer] on Dec. 6, so to me it’s a culmination of working with a lot of good people on three different forces, every unit I could think of. It’s a tremendous opportunity.”

It is the first time in more than 20 years that both the chief and the deputy chief have been promoted from within, Scott said. When Chief Gilles Larochelle came to the force 2013, one of his mandates was to develop the force’s senior staff. Current Deputy Chief Antje MacNeely was named chief-designate on Sept. 6, about a month and a half after Larochelle announced his retirement. The news release announcing Scott’s designation noted that the force did interview other internal senior staff for the role.

“We know that the other applicants will continue to give the same devoted, exemplary service and work in concert with chief-designate McNeely and deputy chief-designate Scott to meet the policing needs of this community in the best manner possible,” he release said.

Scott is a graduate of Loyalist College’s law and security program. Prior to coming to Kingston in 1998, he worked with the Toronto and Ottawa police forces. Scott has worked in nearly every unit, most recently in quality assurance and professional standards, and has been involved in numerous high-profile cases, including the June 2009 Shafia honour killings of sisters Zainab, 19, Sahar, 17, and Geeti, 13, and of Rona Amir Mohammad, 50, Mohammad Shafia’s first wife.

Scott’s role as deputy chief starts on Jan. 1, 2019. He hopes to continue positive community relations between Kingston residents and front-line patrol and to recruit new officers to the force alongside McNeely.

“I’m very appreciative of all the opportunities I’ve had with Kingston Police to date,” Scott said. “I’m looking forward to advancing the organization with chief-designate McNeely as we move forward.”